Memory Lane

Yesterday we took a walk down memory lane as Alison and I returned to some of the areas I served on my mission. I have been home from my mission for over three years and I haven't been back to some of these areas for 4+ years. We have been meaning to get back forever and we finally made it.

We started off the morning by heading to the Oakland temple. I LOVE the Oakland temple. It is my second favorite temple (behind Salt Lake because I got married there). I like the oriental influence and the uniqueness of the temple. I like that it has 5 spires, and I enjoy the garden terrace on the temple.

We walked around the temple grounds and enjoyed the beautiful views of Oakland and San Francisco. The temple is up on a hill and the whole bay is visible. It was a beautiful clear day and we had great views. The gardens at the temple were really nice. It is springtime and the flowers were in full bloom. Alison really enjoyed the peonies.

I gave Alison a tour of the temple grounds and gardens. I told the fun facts about the temple and shared my memories. One memory that is so vivid is of a time I brought Susan and her daughter Hannah (two of the people I taught) to the temple with a family from the Dublin ward. We spent some time walking around the temple grounds soaking in the spirit and then we had a picnic on the terrace. I showed Alison the exact spot we had the picnic. It is a special memory. I also had a lot of fun memories of mission gatherings at the temple. When I was a missionary it was cool to stand on this one bench and get a picture with the spires of the temple in the background. For old time's sake, Alison took a picture for me in about the same spot. It wasn't nearly as cool as I used to think. Alison also wanted a picture with the spires in the background. I took one for her and she threw her arms up in the air. During my mission, I sent her a book of pictures and there was one of me standing by the temples with my arms raised as high as I could and I captioned the picture Hoorah for Israel. 

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After

Hoorah for Israel

True Love

The Oakland Mission Home/Mission Office is right across the street from the temple. I got to show Alison the place I spent my first night on the mission. It brought back a lot of fun memories of President Beck and what that first night was like. I wrote in my journal: "I got here around lunch and we went to In and Out burger. Then we went street contacting. While we were contacting it started pouring rain. We came back to the mission home and then went and toured the Oakland temple visitor center. The spirit was incredible. I love that temple. After we had a nice dinner and then a fireside with President and Sister Back. We all bore our testimonies and I know this is where I am supposed to be. The gospel is true."

The Oakland temple will always be very special to me. One of my favorite pictures was of me sitting on a rail on one of the bridges by the Oakland temple. This picture was taken on the day before I was transferred from the Oakland mission to the San Jose mission. I loved the Oakland mission so much and it was hard to leave, but this picture always reminded me of the happy times I had in Oakland. 

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After

True Love

Our next stop was the Oakland Coliseum for an A's game. It was a beautiful day for baseball. During my mission on my first memorial day, I went to an A's game. I bought some A's gear and had a blast. It was fun to be back in Oakland. The stadium is a dive (to put it generously), but the A's are a fun team to watch. We went early to go batting practice and try to get a baseball signed. The game was pretty early and they didn't have normal batting practice, but there were some pitchers working out. We walked around and we got pretty close to Yu Darvish, but he didn't come over and sign. We gave up and got some food and were having fun when I saw some A's players signing near our seats. I went over and got Fernando Abad to sign a baseball. 

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After

The A's were playing the Rangers. We got some peanuts and cracker jacks and enjoyed some great baseball. Alison kept score because that's what real fans do. The A's lost 3-0 after Ranger's Pitcher Martin Perez pitched a gem and shut out the A's.  We saw a 3 hit, complete game shut-out. It was amazing to see such masterful pitching, but we would have loved to see the A's win. 

Our final stops for the day were Livermore and Dublin. Livermore was my first area on my mission and I spent the first year of my mission in Livermore and Dublin. I loved those areas, especially Dublin. When we drove into Dublin I told Alison it felt a little bit like I was coming home. I showed Alison my apartment in Dublin. We walked around the complex and I told her stories about my companions and the adventures we had. We also stopped by inspiration point. I have always loved this area because it overlooks the whole city of Dublin and the view is fantastic. I remember once when my companion and I got up early and got ready for the day so that we could go and study up there. We also drove by the Dublin chapel. I was in this ward for 9 months and I came to love the people of Dublin. 

The Dayton family was kind enough to invite us over for dinner. They were one of my favorite families on the mission. They had us over for my first Christmas eve during the mission and it was wonderful. It was fun to visit with them and hear about all of the things that are happening in the ward. They are really involved in missionary work and I loved hearing about their experiences. Right now their two oldest children are serving missions and they have lots of fun stories.

I didn't really know what it would be like to visit a lot of the people I knew on my mission. Many of them I haven't seen or had contact with for years. Everywhere we went I was amazed by the reception we received. Everyone was so kind to have us into their homes. We saw Talahiva who was baptized while I was in Dublin, and I was overwhelmed by the love I felt for her. We also visited with the Blie family and heard about their upcoming trip to Hawaii. We saw the Mills family and met their son, Brigham who was born right after I left the area (he is 4). It was such an incredible experience and I wish I had more time to spend with them. 

We also went out to Livermore and visited with the Camp family. I lived with them for the first 3 months of my mission. It was fun to see the room they used to let the missionaries use (it was remodeled and is now a guest room). 

We also visited with one of my favorite families the VanLeuvan's. I taught John and he was baptized while I was in Livermore. Months later I had the privilege of attending the temple while their family was sealed. It was a very special moment. They have a wonderful family and we had a really good time visiting with them.